It’s a quiet afternoon in Kansas City’s Santa Fe neighborhood and 58-year-old Anthony Wilson has just finished his shift as a railroad conductor with the Union Pacific.
His red brick and stone house are at 29th and Lockridge Street, Kansas City, Missouri, not too far from where Wilson grew up at 29th and Olive Street. He has fond memories.
“Everyone had kids, so, you know, we formed our own little neighborhood team, you know, and we played against Olive, against Wabash," he says. "I mean … it was safe to us.”
Approaching the front door to let a visitor in, the floor under his foyer creaks loudly. He says his sprawling, two-story home with a white-walled living room and dining room is a hidden piece of history.
“It was built in 1909,” Wilson says. “I have been, for the life of me, since I bought the house, trying to figure out who, where I can find the old pictures and the old owners.”
He says when he and his wife bought the property a couple of years ago, the century-old infrastructure had deteriorated. The pipes were outdated. They’ve already put in new gas lines, new plumbing and an electrical box to mitigate the high risk of a house fire.
But Wilson says what he’s done in the house so far doesn’t begin to address the many repairs the place needs. He’s grateful for the help he’s getting from Jackson County.
Operation Rebuild
The Urban League of Greater Kansas City, community leaders and Jackson County officials announced on Aug. 28, 2026, that they’d be distributing $1.4 million for a program dubbed Operation Rebuild.
The funding will go to home repairs and renovation for 43 homes in the Santa Fe neighborhood with money left over from the American Rescue Plan Act, the 2021 Biden administration initiative to help the nation recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Wilson was among many homeowners in the Santa Fe neighborhood to apply to the program, in which select homes receive $20,000 for exterior and interior revitalization such as roof replacements and driveway repairs.
Wilson says he’s already shelled out around $30,000 in home repairs and he’s reached his budget limit.
But Wilson, who is also a part-time home inspector, fears there are more serious underlying issues he needs to address. He points to one of two white pillars between the living room and dining area that show jagged cracks where they connect with the ceiling. Wilson believes his house may be shifting on uneven ground.
“I've sealed it. I mean I've caulked it,” Wilson says, “and I'm like, how is this coming back?”
"Time makes changes"
Santa Fe neighborhood, bounded by Kansas City’s 27th Street, Linwood Boulevard, Prospect and Indiana Avenues, is one of Kansas City’s oldest African American neighborhoods. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986.
Marquita Taylor has been serving as the Santa Fe Neighborhood Association president for eight years but has been a resident for around 32 years. She says the character of the neighborhood is different than it was three decades ago.
"Time makes changes," Marqita says. "There were a lot of homeowners who were gone and the houses were sold to flippers. So, a lot of that is still prevalent in the community, and certainly on the block (where) I live.”
Though the revitalization of 43 homes is a start, Taylor says it will take the whole community to make sustainable changes, to bring back the feel of the place she moved to 32 years ago.
“Regardless if you are a renter or homeowner, you've got to come in and be a part of fixing our neighborhood,” says Taylor. “There are policies that need to be changed about liquor stores in our community. We have way too many. (We have) blight in our community.”
Gwen Grant, CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, shares Taylor’s perspective.
"This initiative is about far more than repairing houses,” Grant wrote in a statement the day the funding was announced. “Every home we repair represents a family that can remain safely in their neighborhood, a property whose value can be preserved.”
Grant went on to praise Operation Rebuild for its collaboration between government, community organizations, contractors and residents who are all investing in people and neighborhoods.
Interim Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota explained why COVID-19 relief funds were being distributed five years after it was awarded, referring to challenges in the previous Jackson County administration.
“(We had) some divisiveness with the legislature and the former administration, and those funds did not get out the door,” LeVota said at the press conference in August. “And they lingered, and they lingered. When I got in office, I got to work with some really good people on the legislature. The divisiveness was gone and we decided to get that money out the door.”
He said revitalization projects like this make the community attractive to new residents, but at the same time respect families who have been there for generations.
“They raised their kids here. They watch their grandkids grow up here. They've invested in their homes,” LeVota said. "And I think it's worth investing in them, because when somebody can stay in their home, it doesn't just help the block, it helps the neighborhood.”
Back at 29th and Olive Street, Wilson says he and his wife have no plans to move. He says they’re not just putting new nails and pipes into this house, but a lot of love, too, because it’s their home. He lives by a motto: “Born here, live here, die here.”
“That’s the pride thing. Did I ever see myself moving back down here? No,” he says. “But, hey, that's where I started. Why not finish here?”
